tiris (tiriss-), also tirissë, noun "watch, vigil" (LT1:258, QL:93)
Quenya
tir-
verb. watch, watch over, guard, heed
tiris
watch, vigil
tir-
verb. to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe, to watch (over), guard, heed; to look (at), gaze, observe; [ᴱQ.] to keep, preserve
palantír
noun. far-gazer, far-seer, (lit.) that which looks far away
A word for the seeing stones of Númenor, a combination of palan “far” and some form of the root TIR “see” (Let/427), hence: “far-seer” or “far-gazer” (LotR Index; PE17/25, 86). This word is unusual in that it has a long vowel in its final syllable, something that does not normally occur in Quenya words. The ancient form of this word was palantīrā̆ (Let/427), and the reduction of short vowels in long compounds was not unusual in Quenya, for example: Valinor as a shorter form of Valinórë. However, after such reductions long vowels in final syllables tended to shorten, so the expected form would be palantir, not palantír. In one place Tolkien described this word as a “a Numenorean formation” (PE17/86), perhaps as a way of explaining the unusual retention of a long vowel in its final syllable.
Because of this long vowel, the proper pronunciation of this word is in dispute. The usual rules for Quenya stress would put the stress on the second syllable: paLANtír. The speech coaches for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies instructed the actors to pronounce this word like English “lantern” to help them remember this stress pattern. However in private notes Tolkien wrote pálan-tìr (PE17/86), indicating primary stress on the first syllable and secondary stress on the last: PAlanTÍR. Notes from the Quendi and Eldar essay of 1959-60 seem to indicate the stress shift to the middle syllable occurs only for older compounds:
> These compounds being old [my emphasis] were accented as unitary words and the main stress came on the syllable preceding -quen: kirya:quen [kirYAquen], kirya:queni [the implication being the stress remains as a pair of words in later compounds] (WJ/407 note #3).
Hat-tip to Raccoon and Vyacheslav Stepanov for this discovery and pointing it out to me. Assuming this reasoning is correct, the long vowel in the final syllable of palantír may simply be to emphasize the unusual stress pattern; compare also María which also has an abnormal long vowel enforcing a stress pattern that would be atypical for Quenya.
Conceptual Development: This word appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s where it was probably a later addition. In its earliest appearances, both in The Etymologies and the drafts of The Lord of the Rings, it was Palantir with a short i (Ety/PAL, TIR; WR/76).
Eldamar
elvenhome
Eldamar place-name "Elvenhome" (ÉLED; found already in Narqelion), according to MR:176 another name of Tirion (see tir-).
hyarmen
south
hyarmen, Hyarmen noun "south" (SA, SA:men, KHYAR), literally "lefthand-direction" (VT49:12), since the Elves named the directions as they were to a person facing the Blessed Realm in the West Also name of tengwa #33 (Appendix E). In Hyarmendacil masc.name, "South-victor" (Appendix A), apparently also in the place-name Hyarmentir (name of a mountain; the element -tir means *"watch[ing point]".) (SA) Hyarnustar "the Southwestlands" of Númenor; Hyarrostar the "Southeastlands" (UT:165)
á
immediate time reference
a (3), also á, imperative particle. An imperative with "immediate time reference" is expressed by á in front of the verb (or "occasionally after it, sometimes before and after for emphasis"), with the verb following in "the simplest form also used for the uninflected aorist without specific time reference past or present or future" (PE17:93). Cf. a laita te, laita te! "[o] bless them, bless them!", á vala Manwë! "may Manwë order it!", literally "o rule Manwë!" (see laita, vala for reference); cf. also á carë "do[!]", á ricë "try!", á lirë "sing[!]", á menë "proceed[!]", a norë "run[!]" (PE17:92-93, notice short a in this example), á tula "come!" (VT43:14). In the last example, the verb tul- "come" receives an ending -a that probably represents the _suffixed form of the imperative particle, this apparently being an example of the imperative element occurring both "before and after" the verbal stem "for emphasis" (PE17:93)_. This ending may also appear on its own with no preceding a/á, as in the command queta "speak!" (PE17:138). Other examples of imperatives with suffixed -a include cena and tira (VT47:31, see cen-, tir-); the imperatives of these same verbs are however also attested as á tirë, á cenë (PE17:94) with the imperative particle remaining independent and the following verb appearing as an uninflected aorist stem. This aorist can be plural to indicate a 3rd person pl. subject: á ricir! "let them try!" (PE17:93). Alyë (VT43:17, VT44:9) seems to be the imperative particle a with the pronominal suffix -lyë "you, thou" suffixed to indicate the subject who is to carry out the command; attested in the phrase alyë anta "give thou" (elided aly' in VT43:11, since the next word begins in e-: aly' eterúna me, *"do thou deliver us"); presumably other pronominal suffixes could likewise be added. The particle a is also present in the negative imperatives ala, #ála or áva, q.v.
Elendë
elvenhome
Elendë (1) place-name "Elvenhome", regions of Valinor where the Elves dwelt and the stars could be seen (MR:176, ÉLED). Plural ablative elendellor in the phrase et elendellor, evidently *"out of the elf-lands" (VT45:13).
Harmen
south
[Harmen] noun "south" (MEN)(Changed to hyarmen.)
Hyarastorni
south
Hyarastorni place-name, region in Númenor, apparently including hyar- "south" and perhaps orni "trees" (UT:210)
cenda-
verb. watch
cenda- vb. "watch" (not "guard", but observe to gain information), also used = "read". Cenda = also noun "reading", as in sanwecenda "thought-inspection, thought-reading". (VT41:5, PE17:156)
marto
tower
marto (1) noun "tower" (PE17:66)
marto
noun. tower
tarminas
tower
tarminas noun "tower" etc. (Sindarin barad); see taras (PE17:22)
turco
tower
turco ("k") (2) noun "tower". In Lúnaturco, Quenya name of Barad-dûr (Dark Tower). Tolkien changed the word turco from turma (PE17:22).
turma
tower
[turma] (2) noun "tower". Tolkien changed this word to turco (#2), q.v. (PE17:22)
tir- vb. "watch, watch over, guard, heed", 1st pers. aorist tirin "I watch", pa.t. tirnë (TIR), imperative tira (VT47:31) or á tirë (PE17:94), future tense tiruva "shall heed" in Markirya (also MC:213, 214); also in CO with pronominal endings: tiruvantes "they will guard it" (tir-uva-nte-s "guard-will-they-it"). The stem also occurs in palantíri (q.v.), Tirion place-name "Great Watchtower", a city of the Elves (SA:tir; in MR:176 the translation is "Watchful City")